Chapter 5 Extraterrestrial

　　—Existence is hope; hope is light. The most terrifying thing in the vast universe would be the absence of extraterrestrial life.

　　At the sound of the scream everyone rushed over and found Bao Mingkai clutching his right foot with both hands, his face contorted in agony, crying out in heartrending pain. Something appeared to be hanging from the big toe of his right foot.

　　Upon closer inspection they saw it was a strange fish, clamped tightly onto the toe, blood streaming down his ankle onto the ground.

　　The ten fingers are connected to the heart; no wonder the pain was so intense.

　　Just as they prepared to help, an arrow suddenly shot from the lake and struck the strange fish squarely in the tail.

　　Looking intently, they realized it was no ordinary arrow but a winged flying fish! A long mane, resembling a horse’s, ran along its spine.

　　The scent of blood had evidently drawn it. With its sharp beak it seized the rear half of the strange fish, while the latter’s head remained locked upon Bao’s toe—forming a bizarre relay of predation.

　　“Look at the lake surface!” Huamei cried.

　　They saw a large school of maned shapes racing rapidly toward the shore.

　　“This is bad—leave the water’s edge at once!” Huamei supported Bao Mingkai and hurried inland; the others followed.

　　True enough, another volley of flying fish shot from the lake like arrows, embedding themselves at an angle in the sand where the group had just stood.

　　The fish thrashed their tails and flapped about, uttering harsh cries—a scene of pure terror.

　　A narrow escape! Huamei helped Bao sit, then forced open the flying fish’s jaws with both hands. Rows of sharp teeth lined its mouth; she flung the creature to the ground.

　　Next she pried open the strange fish’s mouth. Its teeth, equally razorsharp, were deeply embedded in the flesh of Professor Bao’s big toe, causing him to cry out continually.

　　Holding the strange fish, Huamei examined it. Two small eyes sat on either side of its head, while a large vertical eye covered the spine—an eerie arrangement.

　　Astonishingly, the flying fish she had discarded now flew again toward Bao’s toe. Huamei struck it down with a slap and crushed it firmly into the sand with her foot.

　　Professor Dong Yifeng took the strange fish from Huamei and studied it carefully. Once removed from the water it had grown sluggish, clearly breathing through gills like terrestrial fish.

　　“Remarkable—its structure is perfectly adapted for survival.” Dong stared fixedly at the creature.

　　“The eye on its back can float above the surface to observe movement, like a periscope. Angling for such a fish would prove extremely difficult.”

　　He then retrieved one of the flying fish from the spot where they had stood and began examining it as well.

　　Huamei bandaged Professor Bao’s wound. Wang Yue and the other two women fetched his boots from the lakeside. Once shod, though still in considerable pain, he could limp forward with difficulty.

　　After brief discussion they decided to return Bao to the ship for treatment.

　　Once aboard, Wang Yue inquired about the progress of repairs.

　　“The vessel was struck by a weapon resembling a powerful laser. The entire propulsion system has suffered severe damage; it cannot be restored in a short time,” Yang Zhiyuan replied.

　　When they described Bao’s injury, both Yang and Zhou were equally astonished.

　　Yang consulted the instruments: “Exterior sensors indicate this planet’s gravity is only twothirds that of Earth, and its rotation is extremely slow—one local day equals roughly two or three terrestrial days.”

　　Only then did the others realize that during their lengthy absence the star had remained high overhead with no perceptible movement.

　　After the attack Professor Bao, even while halfreclining, had managed to leap half a meter into the air.

　　Moreover, walking upon this world had always felt unusually light—further evidence of the environmental differences from Earth.

　　Professor Dong brought the threeeyed fish and the flying fish aboard and prepared them as specimens.

　　Contemplating the satisfying results, he urged the three female scientists: “Ladies, Old Bao is injured and has lost his chance, yet we have arrived upon a wondrous planet whose biodiversity is surely rare upon Earth.

　　“Since we are idle while the propulsion systems remain unrepaired, why not exit once more for further investigation?”

　　Wang Yue, Su Ziqi, and Zheng Ya all nodded in agreement.

　　Thus Bao Mingkai remained aboard to recuperate, Captains Yang Zhiyuan and Zhou Ke continued repairs, and the rest exited again to begin their exploratory journey.

　　This time they set out toward the forest. Between the lake and the woodland lay a stretch of grassland where the grass grew dense and vigorous.

　　Huamei first launched a small drone to survey the surrounding terrain; threedimensional imagery appeared upon the wrist screens of the others, displaying the drone’s feed.

　　The grassland lay in the transitional zone between dense forest and the large lake; the nearer the trees, the taller and denser the grass. Lush vegetation flourished, redolent of spring.

　　Suddenly, upon the threedimensional display, Huamei spotted a paleyellow indistinct form lying motionless in the grass near the forest edge.

　　She guided the drone lower until it hovered only three meters above the object. At last they discerned that the prostrate shape was a humanoid being!

　　The figure noticed the drone overhead. It shook its head, rose unhurriedly from the grass, tilted its face upward, and gazed fearlessly into the camera.

　　Standing there was clearly a male human. He was tall, his head wrapped in what appeared to be a yellow headcloth, his body clad in yellow garments the color of autumn withered grass—highly conspicuous against the green meadow and instantly captured by the drone.

　　Cautiously the group approached the alien. The threedimensional imagery had already confirmed that he carried no weapons in his hands.

　　Having just suffered an unexplained attack upon landing and now encountering an extraterrestrial, Wang Yue cautioned everyone to remain vigilant.

　　Each kept a hand near the laser pistol at the waist, ready for any sudden development.

　　The distant figure showed no alarm. He remained where he stood, quiet and composed, like a king summoning his subjects to audience.

　　Their hearts were both anxious and exhilarated. In the history of human exploration of the cosmos this was the first discovery, upon so habitable a world, of a being identical in form to themselves.

　　Upon seeing the stranger, Su Ziqi experienced the most peculiar sensation. Beyond excitement, an inexplicable sense of familiarity rose within her, as though she had witnessed this very scene before—a dreamlike feeling.

　　At the same time the red phoenix jade pendant at her throat seemed once more to become a living bird, stirring restlessly against her breast—an occurrence she found deeply strange.

　　They halted a little more than three meters from the alien and observed him carefully; simultaneously he studied them with equal attention.

　　The stranger was young—appearing no more than twenty—standing at least 1.9 meters tall, with regular features, fair skin, bright eyes, sharply defined facial contours, and a highbridged nose.

　　His head was wrapped in a yellow cloth resembling coarse linen that covered the forehead down to the space between the brows. He wore yellow linen garments embroidered upon the chest with a bluegreen dragon, and upon his feet were straw sandals.

　　Anthropologist Professor Zheng Ya was greatly excited. This might well be humanity’s first encounter, upon an alien world, with a being identical in appearance to themselves—how could she not be thrilled?

　　With emotion she opened her arms toward the stranger: “Hi! Friend, I am Zheng Ya, from Earth. Can you tell me how you are called? And can you tell us what place this is?”

　　Su Ziqi smiled upon hearing this. From earliest childhood she had imagined the scene of humanity’s first contact with extraterrestrials; now that scene stood before her. Zheng Ya’s questions were direct—precisely those she herself wished to ask.

　　The figure clearly did not understand Zheng Ya’s words and remained silent.

　　Though language failed, gesture could serve. Zheng Ya pointed to herself and spoke slowly, word by word: “My name is Zheng Ya.” Then she pointed to the sky and mimed a spacecraft descending: “We came down from the heavens.”

　　The stranger appeared to comprehend and nodded. He pointed to himself and uttered a strange phrase, apparently introducing himself.

　　Then he pointed toward the forest behind him, raised his head, made a lookout gesture with one hand while simulating running with the other. Next he mimed a spacecraft descending, then indicated the place where he had lain, dropped to the ground in a prone position, and demonstrated the posture of covert observation.

　　At once the group understood. After the ship had been attacked and trailed thick black smoke while gliding across the sky, the scene had been witnessed by him within the forest. He had followed, crawled into the grass, and secretly observed the landing.